1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a method and apparatus that provides for reversal of physiological human dependency induced by cigarette smoking, alcohol or drug addiction, for reducing or eliminating physiological dependency through the use of acupuncture and psychological changes through hypnosis, employing tapes, records or compact disks, and in particular, to a method and self-administering patient kit that utilizes specific acupuncture/acupressure locations in combination with hypnosis which intensifies and accelerates the effects of acupuncture/acupressure in reversing chemical, physiological and psychotherapeutic addiction in human beings induced by cigarette smoking, and in particular nicotine, alcohol addiction and drug addiction. The method and apparatus may also be used for weight loss, areas of self-improvement such as memory, relief from stress (relaxation), control of physiologic and/or psychological pain, and the like.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Acupuncture/acupressure, as a Chinese remedy for medical and psychophysiological problems such as addiction, are well known in the art. For the sake of this application, acupuncture and acupressure are to be considered synonymous. Acupuncture has been used to treat a variety of human physical and psychological problems. Different forms of acupuncture that include tactile stimulation of various areas of the body, either through pressure, electrical stimulation or magnetic stimulation are known. Numerous types of acupuncture devices are known, such as that shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,450,846 for an electrical pulse acupuncture apparatus. U.S. Pat. No. 4,966,164 shows a combined sound generating device, an electrical acupuncture method and device that attaches to portions of the human body for treatment.
Hypnosis has been used for treatment of dependency in human beings for smoking, alcohol and drug addiction. The purpose of hypnosis is to provide for post-hypnotic suggestion which is effective with particular individuals for both physiological and psychological treatment of chemical dependency. U.S. Pat. No. 4,282,864 shows a method and apparatus for inducing a pre-hypnotic state to enhance suggestion.
Although acupuncture in and of itself may, at times, produce successful results for both physiological and psychological treatments, and hypnosis has been used by itself for improving psychological and physiological treatment of dependency, Applicant has discovered that the simultaneous use of hypnosis in conjunction with stimulation of particular acupuncture zones greatly intensifies and amplifies the acupuncture effect, with a result greater than any individual effect noted heretofore by the Applicant, especially for treatment of cigarette smoking, alcohol addiction and drug addiction, to greatly reverse chemical changes through the application of this treatment. The system may be utilized in the form of a self-administered patient kit that includes a device for applying acupressure or acupuncture pressure at prescribed and preselected points on a human being's skin that is used in conjunction with audio instructions on a cassette tape, compact disk, or record that will induce hypnosis in a predetermined schedule. The kit includes a body point chart with the instructions. An instruction sheet or cassette could also be in the kit explaining how to do self-hypnosis. The tape provided could be subliminal or with audio conscious levels or both. Applicant is the patentee of U.S. Pat. No. 4,098,277, which provides for stimulating auricular acupuncture points which would be used in conjunction with hypnosis in the present invention.